The Castle Hotel

Taunton, Somerset, England.

Shortly before the Battle of Sedgemoor on the 6th of July 1685 – the last to be fought on English soil – officers belonging to the army of the Duke of Monmouth were said to be heard “roistering” at The Castle Inn. Alas, the tragic irony is that a few months later many would be back under less auspicious circumstances.

It was in the Great Hall of the Castle at Taunton on the 17th of September 1685 that one of the most infamous episodes in British history commenced. Presided over by the notorious Judge Jeffreys, the Bloody Assize tried over 500 men and sentenced most to death for their part in Monmouth’s rebellion against King James II. However, The Castle’s history runs much deeper than this single episode in history. The site of the hotel is almost certainly that of the very first fortress in the area (most likely constructed of wood) built by the King of Wessex in A.D. 710.

Burnt down on more than one occasion – including during a raid by Danish invaders in 1001 – it also played host to a certain Perkin Warbeck: great pretender to the throne of England.See the Historic Hotels in Somerset index

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